A jazz saxophonist who played with the singer Amy Winehouse is one of three people arrested in New York for alleged drug offences following actor Philip Seymour Hoffman's death.

Musician Robert Vineberg is now facing a felony charge of heroin possession with intent to sell following his arrest on Tuesday night in his apartment at 302 Mott Street in the pricey Nolita district of Manhattan

The 57-year-old performed on the popstar's best-selling album Frank in 2003 and claims to have worked with other singers including Wyclef Jean, Mick Jagger, David Bowie and Tom Jones.

Robert Vineberg, a jazz saxophonist who played with the singer Amy Winehouse is one of three people arrested in New York for alleged drug offences folowing actor Philip Seymour Hoffman fatal heroin overdose.

Another acquaintance: Philip Seymour Hoffman was found dead with 70 bags of heroin in his West Village apartment

Two law enforcement officials said at least one of them had the actor's phone number.

Investigators zeroed in on the four after a tipster, responding to publicity about Hoffman's death, told police he had seen Hoffman at the lower Manhattan apartment building where they were arrested and he believed that's where Hoffman got the heroin, the officials said Wednesday.

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In searches of two apartments in the building, police found hundreds of packets of heroin in one of them, according to a criminal complaint.

But prosecutors declined to pursue charges against one of the four, saying there was no evidence that he had control of the drugs or the apartment in which they were found, and two of the others were charged only with a misdemeanor charge of possessing cocaine, not heroin.

Max Rosenblum was released from custody
on $35,000 bail. Earlier, his live-in girlfriend, Juliana Luchkiw, was
released on $1,500 bail after spending a night in jail

Making ends meet: Vineberg's stepdaughter says he sold drugs to pay his rent when he couldn't find work as a musician

Not involved: Christina Soto says her stepfather did not sell the drugs that Hoffman overdosed on

Tip off: Four people were arrested in apartments at 302 Mott Street in lower Manhattan after police were tipped off by a heroin user

Lawyers for the three people charged vigorously denied their clients had any role in Hoffman's death and suggested they were being swept up in a maelstrom of attention surrounding the actor's demise.

'This case and the charges against Mr. Vineberg have absolutely nothing to do with the death of Philip Seymour Hoffman. ... We're hoping the (district attorney) will not use Mr. Vineberg as a scapegoat,' said his lawyer, Edward Kratt, who declined to say whether Vineberg knew Hoffman.

Vineberg's stepdaughter, Christina Soto, told the New York Post: 'My father knew Philip Seymour Hoffman for a few months'.

Ms Soto, 33, who lives in Allentown, Pennsylvania, said that her father got to know Hoffman while working in TV.

She admitted that Hoffman had visited the apartment where her stepfather sold drugs before adding: 'But he had nothing to do with what killed him.'

Robert Vineberg was arrested as police followed leads after Hoffman's death from a combination of heroin, cocaine and other drugs

Accused: Max Rosenblum in Manhattan Court on drug charges in the Hoffman death - Rosenblum was released from custody on $35,000 bail

The woman said that Vineberg had admired Hoffman greatly and had been excited about the actor visiting his home.

On
hearing news of his tragic death on Sunday, Ms Soto remember that her
stepfather said: 'If he would have come to me, I would have told him to
slow down, and if you’re going to do something, make sure you have
someone with you.'

Hoffman,
46, was found dead on Sunday morning at his $10,000-a-month West
Village apartment surrounded by 70 bags of heroin and 20 used syringes.

The
Medical Examiner said today that Hoffman's autopsy had been completed
but results were inconclusive, pending toxicology tests.

While searching Hoffman's apartment on Sunday police found three phones, one of which contained the number of Vineberg.

The
informant who led the NYPD to the Manhattan drug den told TMZ on
Wednesday that Hoffman had been trying to kick drugs before his tragic
death.

Robert Vineberg, 57, a musician who goes by the name of Robert Aaron,
was charged with felony drug possession following the police swoop

The anonymous
source said in some text messages Hoffman told Vineberg that he wanted
to kick the vicious drug. The actor also admitted that the worst part of
getting clean was 'uncontrollable bowel movements', TMZ reported.

Vineburg's
stepdaughter said he became involved in selling drugs in November
because he was struggling to make ends meet as a musician. Ms Soto said
that her father turned to drug-pushing when he couldn't even find work
washing dishes.

Ms Soto said that her father had no history of arrests and she hoped he would get six months or maybe a 'program'.

Officers found 350 glassine envelopes containing a substance believed to be heroin during the raid.Vineberg
has two apartments in the building, one of which he uses as a music
studio.According to the New York Times, the majority of the bags of
heroin were found in Vineberg's home.

However
none of the packages had the 'Ace of Spades' stamp found on bags at
Hoffman's home, a police source told the New York Post.

Vineberg was a session musician for Winehouse - he claims he has also worked with many other artists including Wyclef Jean, left, Mick Jagger, right, David Bowie and Tom Jones

Vineberg worked with Amy Winehouse on her best-selling album Frank in 2003

Vineberg describes himself as a 'musical visionary' at Runawayhorses Music, his own label.

During his arrest on Tuesday night, Vineberg denied that he had sold drugs to Hoffman.

A neighbor of Vineberg told MailOnline today that he was a gregarious and social man who sometimes seemed 'spaced out'.

The musician has two apartments in the same run-down building - one is used as a recording studio and he lives in the other.

The
woman in her mid-fifties, who did not want to be named, said she never
saw evidence of drug dealing at the studio or saw Vineberg with a
girlfriend.

She said that Vineburg was a talented musician and that there was always people coming and going to his studio.

Vineberg,
who goes by Robert Aaron, moved to New York from Montreal in the 1970s
and began busking while he tried to get work as a musician.

Winehouse's battle with drug and alcohol addiction was well publicised
through her work and she died in 2011 at her home in north London.

The arrests came two days into the high-profile case, reflecting the attention and urgency it has attracted.

All
three of the people charged were indicted within a day after their
arrests, a fairly unusual step, and were being held without bail.

The
two charged with cocaine possession, Juliana Luchkiw and Max Rosenblum,
a couple who are neighbors of Vineberg's, were visibly dismayed when a
judge denied them bail, though their lawyers hoped to revisit the issue
Thursday.

'She's not a drug dealer. She's a college student,' attending a design school, said Luchkiw's lawyer, Stephen Turano.

Rosenblum's lawyer, Daniel Hochheiser, said his client 'has nothing to do with Philip Seymour Hoffman.'

Home time: Mimi O'Donnell with her youngest daughter Willa Hoffman is seen coming out of the funeral chapel in NYC

New York, NY - Mimi O'Donnell and her kids, Cooper, Tallulah and Willa arrive at the Frank E. Campbell funeral parlor for Philip Seymour Hoffman's wake in New York

Much loved: Hundreds of people gather for a candlelight vigil for actor Philip Seymour Hoffman in the courtyard of the Bank Street Theater, home of the Labyrinth Theater Company, on Wednesday, in New York

Luchkiw
and Rosenbaum had two bags of cocaine, while investigators found about
300 packets of heroin, a bag of cocaine and about $1,200 in cash in
Vineberg's apartment, according to criminal complaints.

Investigators
have determined that the 'Capote' star made six ATM transactions for a
total of $1,200 inside a supermarket near his home the day before his
death, law enforcement officials have said.

Investigators
are examining a computer and two iPads found at the scene for clues and
recovered syringes, a charred spoon and various prescription
medications, including a blood pressure drug and a muscle relaxant, law
enforcement officials have said.

Police
learned from phone records that one of the suspects had Hoffman's
number, strengthening the theory that they may have supplied him with
drugs, the law enforcement officials said.

The
officials, who weren't authorized to speak about evidence in the
ongoing investigation of the death and spoke to The Associated Press on
the condition of anonymity, didn't identify which of the suspects had
the number.

Some of
the packets found in Hoffman's apartment were variously stamped with the
ace of hearts and others with the ace of spades. Those found in the
building where the arrests occurred had different brand names, including
Black List and Panda, the officials said.

Covered in tributes and flowers: This is the West Village apartment where Philip Seymour Hoffman was discovered dead on Sunday after an apparent drugs overdose

Police
were waiting for a cause of death for the Oscar-winning actor from the
medical examiner's office, which said on Wednesday that more tests were
needed.

There was no
timetable for Hoffman's autopsy to be finished, said medical examiner's
office spokeswoman Julie Bolcer, who declined to discuss the pending
tests. Toxicology and tissue tests are typically done in such cases.

Courts have found that under state law drug dealers can't be held liable for customers' deaths.

A
1972 state appellate division case found a dealer can't be found guilty
of manslaughter or criminally negligent homicide for selling heroin and
syringes to a customer who later dies because, the court ruled,
legislation enhancing punishment for drug crimes didn't redefine
homicide to include the sale of an illicit drug that results in death.

And
holding a drug dealer criminally liable for a customer's overdose death
could prove difficult for the district attorney's office, said James
Cohen, a Fordham University School of Law professor who runs a clinic
that represents federal criminal defendants.

'It's not just enough that you know, if you will, theoretically or academically, that heroin could kill,' he said.

Former police detective Scott Prendergast, who worked on the high-profile investigation into the 1996 heroin overdose death of Jonathan Melvoin, a keyboard player touring with the rock band Smashing Pumpkins, said it's not uncommon for investigators to track down dealers following suspected overdose deaths especially when the drugs are stamped with telling names.

A private funeral for relatives and close friends of Hoffman is set for Friday, and a larger memorial service will be held later this month, his publicist Karen Samfilippo said.

On Wednesday night, Broadway theaters dimmed their lights in memory of the Tony Award-nominated actor, and members of the theater community held a candlelight vigil for him.